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数学新题解析

576. Economist: Tropicorp, which constantly seeks profitable investment opportunities, has been buying and clearing sections of tropical forest for cattle ranching, although pastures newly created there become useless for grazing after just a few years. The company has not gone into rubber tapping, even though greater profits can be made from rubber tapping, which leaves the forest intact. Thus, some environmentalists argue that Tropicorp’s actions do not serve even its own economic interest. However, the initial investment required for a successful rubber-tapping operation is larger than that needed for a cattle ranch; there is a shortage of workers employable in rubber-tapping operations; and taxes are higher on profits from rubber tapping than on profits from cattle ranching. Consequently, the environmentalists’ conclusion is probably wrong.

In the economist’s argument, the two boldface portions play which of the following roles?

A. The first supports the conclusion of the economist’s argument; the second calls that conclusion into question.

B. The first states the conclusion of the economist’s argument; the second supports that conclusion.

C. The first supports the conclusion of the environmentalists’ argument; the second states that conclusion.

D. The first states the conclusion of the environmentalists’ argument; the second states the conclusion of the economist’s argument.

E. Each supports the conclusion of the economist’s argument.

题目大意

经济学家：Tropicorp不断寻求有利可图的投资机会，购买和清理部分热带森林作为牧牛场，即使新种下的牧草在第二年就不能再放牧了。这家公司没有进入橡胶行业，尽管割橡胶能带来更多的利润，这使得森林完好无损。因此一些环保人士认为Tropicorp的做法不是为了自身的经济利益。然而，成功的橡胶经营需要的初期投资比牧场要大，这里缺少称职的割胶工人，割胶利润的税费比牧场的税高。因此环保人士的说法很可能是错的。

解题思路

与GWD的一道题很像，说明这是一道老题，改编了一下。文章虽然很长，但其实很简单，开头的“Economist: ”表明这篇文章是Economist在发表看法，第二个黑体句，也就是最后一句话显然是文章的结论，也就是Economist的论证的结论。第一个黑体句前面是“Thus, some environmentalists argue that”，所以这句话就是environmentalists的论证的结论。所以答案选D。